


Changes

by GreenDevilSam



Series: Heist!AU [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Cyborg!Connor, Feelings, M/M, Possessive Behavior, bordering on obsessive, heist!au, very light angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 05:07:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16401881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenDevilSam/pseuds/GreenDevilSam
Summary: Connor didn't think he would ever wake up again, but there he was, looking up at Nines and wondering what in the hell had happened because no matter how many times he blinked, the words and numbers overlaying his sight wouldn't go away.





	Changes

**Author's Note:**

> No actual heisting in this one, just a whole lot of ~feelings~ because, well, yeah. Much love to the [RK1700](https://discord.gg/BrE6X4a) discord. It's a very thirsty place full of sin, but the people are great lol. Anyway, enjoy!

When Connor woke up, blurry numbers and letters were flitting across his vision, which was weird because he was sure his eyes still were closed. After a minute or two, his vision finally came into focus, and he could see that the letters spelled out the word ‘Initializing’ in bold white font followed by other words and percentages that disappeared too quickly for him to follow. It was… odd, to say the least. Was he dreaming? Connor slowly blinked his eyes open to find that the words didn’t disappear and no matter where he looked at the dark gray ceiling, they followed.

‘100% Complete’ suddenly flashed at him and then his vision was finally clear. The message sent some kind of jolt through his body and forced a small gasp from his lips. Something clattered to the ground on his right followed by hurried footsteps growing closer and then his sight was abruptly eclipsed by a pair of gray eyes, wide and filled with concern. Connor’s fingers twitched, eager to reach up and touch that pale complexion, to smooth out the crease between those brows and the frown that curved those lips, but his limbs felt so _heavy_. What was wrong with him?

“Nines,” Connor croaked out instead, voice sounding a bit off and… full of static? He couldn’t help the whimper that left him. Something was wrong with him. What was wrong with him? He couldn’t remember what happened yesterday—was it yesterday? What day was it anyway and where was he?

For some reason, the date popped up in the corner of his vision along with what looked like coordinates, and it was the same text as what was there when he awoke. His breathing sped up. It said it was March, but the last he knew it was November, wasn't it? Tears pricked at his eyes. What was going on?

Nines caressed Connor’s cheek with one hand and gently stroked his hair with the other. “Connor, shh, shh, it’s all right. It’s okay. You are okay… It finally worked,” Nines tried to reassure, but that last part just made the tears fall from Connor’s eyes. Nines looked a mess. His normally perfectly styled hair was mussed, like he’d run his fingers through it too many times, his skin looked like it hadn't seen the sun in months, and dark bags hung below tired eyes that were usually keen and sharp.

Connor wanted so badly to just hold on to him and be held in return, but instead all he could do was rasp, “Richard…”

Nines’ eyes widened with a quick intake of breath and he darted forward to wrap Connor in a tight hug. It was warm and familiar, comforting in a way nothing else was, but Nines was shaking, and his voice was distorted by tears. “I was not sure it would work. I thought I had lost you. You don’t know how much I have missed you.” His grip grew tighter. 

So, something _had_ happened, Connor thought, he just couldn’t remember what. “I—I can’t move. What’s going on? What happened?” Connor recalled going on a search for keys and then… nothing.

“Wait, you can’t move? Dammit,” Nines replied and gently laid Connor back down on the metal table. He wiped at his eyes as he walked over to a computer terminal then went about typing at a fast pace. Ones and zeros overlaid Connor’s view again, then ‘Motor Functions-Active,’ and it was like gravity had magically released his limbs. He sat up and peered at his palms while flexing his fingers and wiggling his toes. They moved fluidly, as if he hadn’t been in a coma for months like he now thought he had been. Nines moved back over to him and said in a soft voice, “Is that better?”

Connor looked up at Nines, saw the worry in his eyes, and promptly threw his arms around his neck to pull him into a tight embrace. Nines was quick to return the affection and they snuggled up as closely as they could, breathing each other in. Connor loved it and savored every minute of it, but eventually had to pull away. There were still things he needed to know. “Nines, what happened?”

Nines let out a long sigh and looked away, “I… couldn’t save you—your… human body anyway.”

“… What?” Connor’s face was a mess of confusion.

“On our last mission for Jericho, you were… _shot_ ,” Nines grimaced at the word, “and I couldn’t save you. So, I used what we had obtained and… brought you back.” He caressed Connor’s cheek. “I missed you.”

Connor’s eyes were wide. “W-what do you mean? Brought me back?”

“The android that CyberLife was building, that is you now Connor,” Nines confessed, “though I modified it with Kamski’s help. I guess you would technically be a cyborg. The only way I could keep you _you_ was to make it so that everything worked with your brain. I remade the shell, reprogrammed the features. I got as close to remaking you as I could. I am… just sorry this had to happen in the first place.”

Connor felt his breathing hitch at the explanation and his heart hammered in his chest, though all of that was artificial now if he was understanding correctly. A message in a flashing, red box appeared stating some kind of warning. He glanced down at his body, covered only by a sheet draped across his lap. From what he could tell, he looked exactly the same.

“Do you wish to see?” Nines asked. Connor nodded, and Nines reached down to his chest. His finger tips were warm as they pressed down on a spot just below Connor’s sternum and then his skin just seemed to dissolve around the area to reveal what looked like glossy white metal or plastic and a lit up blue ring. “This is a very important piece of you now. It is called a thirium pump regulator. Never let anyone but me remove it, understand?”

Connor hummed in response, still awed by what he was seeing. His skin reformed when Nines removed his hand, pristine as ever. “I’m really… a robot,” he whispered.

“Not just a robot. You are still you, I made sure of it, right down to your voice.” Nines smiled softly. “I spent days tweaking it to be the same as I remembered.”

“But, why would you this? Why go through so much trouble? You could’ve just…” Connor felt like his throat was seizing up on him, “moved on.”

Nines shook his head and lifted Connor’s chin with a finger so that their eyes could meet. “There is no me without you, Con, you know that.”

Connor’s lips formed a bittersweet smile as he huffed, “You’re an idiot,” then he was surging upward to bring their mouths together, eager to see if kisses would still feel the same. They did, though when their tongues met a list of what looked to be random chemicals and information popped up behind his closed eyelids. He willed it away though—he would ask about it later. All he wanted now was to know if things would still be the same. When Nines eventually pulled back for air, Connor asked with a sly smirk and a pointed glance at his lap, “So, does _everything_ still work?”

Nines smiled, eyes half-lidded, and replied, “I’ll make sure of it.” He then proceeded to ravish the man in his arms and months of pent up frustration finally saw some relief.

 

The way Nines explained it, Connor had a super computer in his brain now that took care of running his body, a body that was made up of parts called biocomponents, which were also able to relay stuff like touch and pain like a normal human nervous system. The HUD that showed up in his vision would communicate anything that was wrong with his body and he was connected to the internet through it, so he could look things up with just a thought. Then there was the tongue thing. Apparently, the appendage could analyze the fluids it came in contact with using a database it had stored in it.

 “So, like, cum?” Connor had smirked.

Nines had glared at him for the vulgar question, but answered, “Yes. CyberLife was developing it to have another feature where it could tell who such fluids belonged to, but I don’t want to risk connecting you to the database just yet.”

“Shame. That could’ve been fun,” Connor had teased, but Nines just rolled his eyes.

Connor wasn’t completely sure what to make of it all. The shock of waking up in a new body had worn off and now his emotions seemed to be going haywire about it. He stood staring at his bare reflection in the bathroom mirror with a frown on his lips. He looked exactly the same, aside from one glaring detail. Nines had re-sculpted his body down to the last mole—even the sex had _felt_ the same, though they had had to fiddle with his sensitivity sensors to make sure it wasn’t too overstimulating. He was left with the same pleasant ache he was used to, the same sticky feeling on his thighs and stomach. Connor had been worried about the fluids his new body produced because they seemed to have a blue tinge to them, but Nines assured him that it was fine. His body now pumped something called thirium 310 through his biocomponents—his blood was _blue_ now—and it was processed into a non-toxic lubricant-like fluid during sex. It was weird as fuck, but Connor wasn’t going to question it if it worked.

The only thing different about him was what was currently pulsing a bright yellow on the right side of his forehead. It was an LED in the shape of a circle that seemed to change color with his mood, and he hated it. It flashed red at the thought. It was the one thing that showed he wasn’t human, a constant reminder that he wasn’t alive, that he died. _Died_. Connor now remembered being held, resting his head against Nines’ chest because it was too heavy to hold up any longer, closing his eyes and feeling cold, so, so cold. The heartbeat drumming comfortingly in his ear, though a little too fast to be good, faded out into nothing… then he woke up. There was nothing in between. He didn’t know if he was thankful for that or not. So now he was faced with this problem: he was awake, but was he alive?

Connor tore his gaze from the mirror and set his sorrow-filled brown eyes on the sink. Nines had said it didn’t matter, that he would love Connor no matter what his body was made of, but Connor wasn’t so sure he could say the same about himself. He grimaced and turned to the shower on his right. Maybe the hot water would help. It was what he had originally gone into the bathroom for in the first place. He turned the heat on high and stepped under the spray, ignoring the warning he got of the temperature being too hot to be safe.

His HUD helpfully supplied the time as 11:48pm when he finally turned the shower off and got out. He had spent almost a full hour just standing there and examining his body. His skin still flushed the same from the heat of the water—though this seemed to be a response his synthetic skin generated on its own, since it couldn’t be a response to blood cells in his body—and the contours of his physique held the same give as if there was real muscle beneath. Connor suddenly whimpered at the thought. His body would never change. Eating and drinking was impossible now; he couldn’t gain or lose muscle anymore. Nines would grow old and _leave him all alone_.

Connor fell to his knees on the bathroom rug with a wretched sob. “Fuck…” he whispered. Without Nines he would… he wouldn’t be able to… Connor buried his face in his hands, but as he did his fingertips brushed the smooth plastic of his LED and he froze. Everyone would know he wasn’t alive because of it. “Oh no. Hank…” He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about his father until then. Was he ok? Did he know about what happened—about what Nines had been up to for four months? Did he know Connor was _dead_?

His finger nails stabbed into the flesh around the glowing red light at his temple. Hank couldn’t know he was dead. The old man would be devastated if he wasn’t already. Connor gritted his teeth as he dug at the seams of his LED. His skin retreated around the area and he felt a sharp pain lance through his head as he tugged and tugged until finally the little light gave and popped free onto the floor, skipping along the tiles. Connor hissed as he watched it and clutched the side of his head.

A sharp knock on the bathroom door startled him so bad he gasped. “Connor? Are you all right in there?” Nines’ muffled voice sounded.

“I—I’m fine. I’ll be right out,” Connor replied, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.

Nines wasn’t having it though. “I’m coming in,” he said as he opened the door, which Connor hadn’t bothered to lock. His brow furrowed in concern as he immediately registered Connor’s saddened state and the slight tremble in his limbs. “What’s wrong? What happened?” He knelt and reached to remove Connor’s hand from the side of his head. His eyes widened when he saw what had been done. “You removed your LED. Why?”

“Because…” Connor whimpered, “it shows that I’m not alive.”

“Oh, Connor…” Nines gently wiped a line of blue blood from Connor’s temple and watched as the synthetic skin covered the damage done to the white chassis underneath. Connor knew it wasn’t bad due to what the warning boxes floating in his vision said, but the pain he could see in his partner’s eyes told him he had still done something very wrong.

“I’m sorry,” Connor whispered. His eyes were dark and glassy with unshed tears. He didn’t want Nines to be sad, he just couldn’t bear the thought of Hank or anyone else seeing the LED and knowing that he wasn’t alive anymore.

Nines shook his head and took both of Connor’s cheeks into his hands to tilt his face up. His voice was firm and brooked no argument. “You _are_ alive. You have no idea what I went through to make sure you stayed that way. It is okay. You do not need the LED, but I wish you would have come to me about it so that I could have removed it correctly instead of you hurting yourself ripping it out.” Connor winced at his words but didn’t break eye contact.  “Your thoughts, your memories, what you feel, that is what makes you _you_ and that is what I tried so hard to keep alive. Please do not leave me alone like that again, Connor. I was lost without you.”

As Connor looked into striking gray eyes so filled with love and hurt, he felt his heart break. Nines had never been anything but good to him. He protected him, loved him, would follow him to the ends of the earth if Connor wanted him to, and now he had even looked death in the face and told it to fuck off—that Connor was _his_. “I’m so sorry, Richard,” Connor slipped his arms around Nines’ chest and pulled him close to soak up his warmth. “I was just overwhelmed, I guess. I never meant to put you through all this, but… thank you for not giving up on me.”

Nines held on just as tightly and pressed a kiss to the crown of Connor’s head. His black turtleneck soaked up the water droplets still clinging to Connor’s bare skin, but Nines could care less about that. “I would never give up on you. We will get through this, and we will make CyberLife pay.” The growl put into the end of his sentence sent a chill down Connor’s artificial spine. Nines had something up his sleeve apparently and Connor would be more than happy to lend a hand.

Connor reveled in the safety and affection their embrace provided. This was exactly what he needed to calm down. There was still a lingering sense of doubt and worry hanging around the back of his mind, but he pushed it as far away as he could to focus on this moment. Hank and his new insecurities could wait a little longer. He drew back only enough to brush his lips against Nines’ and said, “Ok. I trust you.”

When Nines sealed the gap between them, Connor moaned into the kiss with a happy smile. Nines’ answering chuckle was deep and left Connor’s ears—audio processors?—tingling. He ran a hand through Connor’s fluffy hair, which had begun to curl as it dried, then finally pulled back for air. “Let us get you some clothes and then we can talk future plans,” Nines said and stood, offering his hand.

Connor hummed his assent and accepted the help to get up. He didn’t mind his nudity, but he knew for a fact that Nines would have trouble concentrating on anything if he didn’t put something on. Connor would often parade around naked on purpose if he thought his partner had been working too much and needed a break, and as he brushed by him, a sharp slap on his ass had him letting out a yelp and sending a glare at the smirking Nines. Connor gave a lopsided smile in return and ran out into the bedroom with Nines quick on his heels. He still wasn’t sure how things would turn out, but he was happy that they still had each other.


End file.
